


Share This Special Night

by mercurys_loverboy (FandomStar)



Series: Freddie and Arthel ~ "Canon" [8]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, Friendship, Love, M/M, Meet the Family, New Years, Scrabble, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 05:39:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19435030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomStar/pseuds/mercurys_loverboy
Summary: The 31st of December is always a special time. But the last hours of 1977 are even more special for Arthel and Freddie.





	1. The Day

24th December 1977, Kensington

As soon as it rang, Freddie went to pick the phone up.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hi, Freddie!" Arthel's voice cheerfully greeted.

"Arthel! Hello, my love," Freddie replied, smiling as he sat in a chair, curling his legs underneath him. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Fred," Arthel repeated back, before telling him, "I'm not actually calling to talk about Christmas."

"No?" Freddie asked, fiddling with the telephone wire.

"No, New Year, actually," Arthel said. "Basically, we have a New Year's Eve party every year, and my mum's insisted that I invite you, Brian, John and Roger. Thought I'd call you first, because I don't know how to reach the others."

Freddie grinned.

"I appreciate the sentiment." he teased.

"Oh, shut up! You know what I meant!" Arthel exclaimed, laughing. "So, are you up for it?"

"Oh, absolutely, darling!" Freddie eagerly agreed. "And don't worry about the boys, I'll get in touch with them."

Freddie heard Arthel's sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much, Freddie," Arthel said. "I'll see you soon."

"I'm looking forward to it," Freddie told him, smiling. "I love you, Ell."

"I love you, too, Fred," Arthel quietly replied. "Goodnight."

* * *

December 31st 1977, Kent

When the door opened, Arthel stood there grinning at his friends in a white Ramomes t-shirt and jeans.

"Arthel! Hello, darling!" Freddie exclaimed, kissing his partner's cheek.

"Hi! I didn't expect you all to be here so early," Arthel said, gently brushing his fingers over Freddie's forearm. "Come in!"

The men traipsed into the house behind their host. Freddie took in everything around him as they were led to the living room.

"Make yourselves comfortable," Arthel insisted, sweeping his arm at the sofas and chairs. "I'll be back in a second."

The four of them settled onto sofas as Arthel disappeared. After internally debating sitting positions, Freddie eventually decided to just cross his legs and fiddle with the end of the purple scarf he was wearing. He'd never admit it, but he was nervous about meeting his partner's family.

"This is nice," John suddenly commented from beside Freddie. "Cosy."

The four of them murmured various agreements, before Arthel returned with an older woman the same height as him, both wearing similar smiles.

"Mum, this is Brian, Roger, John and Freddie," he said, gesturing to each of his friends, his voice sounding a little softer on Freddie's name. He boldly decided to add, "My boyfriend."

"Lovely to meet you." Freddie told Arthel's mum, smiling charmingly.

As the others echoed similar things, Freddie noticed Arthel gazing nervously at him. He acknowledged it with a reassuring tilt of his head. When his mum sat down in an armchair, Arthel went to take a seat next to Freddie, exchanging a small smile with him.

"It's nice to see some fresh faces," Arthel's mum told the band. "Ell doesn't bring many friends up here for celebrations. Or anyone else."

She directed a grin at Freddie, setting him at ease.

"That's because I don't really _have_ friends, Mum, you know that." Arthel told her, as though he were reminding of many previous conversations.

"I don't see why not." John quietly commented.

"The chronic introvert has spoken!" Roger teased, jokingly bowing, making everyone laugh and a small smile appear on John's face. A little more earnestly, he added toward Arthel, "He's right, though. You're a great guy and a great musician, what is there for people to not like?"

"Because someone's musicality's such a priority." Brian sarcastically said, earning a "shut up" and a light punch from Roger, who was sat beside him.

"Well, here I was thinking it was your good looks!" Freddie joked, grinning as he winked at Arthel.

He felt mildly triumphant when Arthel's face turned tomato red.

"Thanks, but I can't really control who does or doesn't like me." Arthel pointed out.

Reluctantly, everyone nodded in agreement. Arthel's mum cast smiles around at the men in her living room.

"So, what do you all do?" she asked the guests.

"We're musicians." Roger smugly replied.

"We're a band, actually." Brian amended, glancing at Roger pointedly.

"Like I said, musicians."

Freddie grinned at his friends' antics.

"A little band called Queen." he proudly agreed.

"Oh, Queen. I know that name," Arthel's mum said, before looking at her son for some hint. "Arthel, give me a hand here."

Sheepishly, Arthel smiled.

"I made everyone listen to Bohemian Rhapsody two Chrismases ago." he replied.

"That's it!" his mum agreed.

Everyone laughed.

"Who wouldn't have?" John asked, teasingly.

Half-heartedly, Arthel reached over Freddie to punch the youngest of the band in the arm with a smile.

"Hey, you know, Ell's the only one of us we haven't seen embarrassing baby photos of." Roger commented, pointing at Arthel with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

A little worried about Arthel's response, Freddie glanced at Arthel as his partner's gaze passed over everyone in the room.

"As you asked so nicely, maybe Mum could find the album," he replied, seeming to surprise his mum as much as he surprised Freddie. "I'll go get drinks, we might need them."

Arthel went into the kitchen, followed by his mum. There was an awkward silence in the living room as Freddie tried to avoid looking at any of his friends, resulting in bringing more attention to himself.

"Do you know something we don't?" Brian mildly asked Freddie.

Freddie felt like giving him a sassy answer (something along the lines of always knowing something they don't) but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Suddenly, they heard Arthel's half of a conversation waft in from the kitchen.

"Mum… I trust them… Fred already knows, of course he does… my business… they're my friends."

Freddie felt three pairs of eyes on him again.

"Freddie, what's going on?" John asked.

Finally able to bring himself to look at someone, Freddie was surprised by how serious his young friend looked. He smiled slightly.

"It's not my place to say, darling." he replied, softly.

Everyone looked up when Arthel returned with his mum. He perched on the arm of his mum's chair as she sat down.

"Gather round, boys," he dramatically said. "And prepare to be amazed by the history of Arthel Jenkins!"

When the first page was turned to show photos of Arthel as a baby wearing various frocks, most of them pink or yellow, Roger cooed teasingly from the other armrest.

"Aww! You were adorable!" he exclaimed, grinning at Arthel, before craning his neck to look at at Brian, who was looming over the back of Arthel's mum's armchair. "See, you weren't the only one made to wear dresses, Bri. And wasn't Arthel adorable?"

"You were." Brian agreed, playing along and giving his friend a teasing smile.

"You look really girly," John commented. "It _is_ cute."

"Y'know, it usually only takes people about five minutes to figure it out, but you guys have known me for a year and a half _and_ been shown baby photos and you _still_ haven't figured it out!" Arthel said, in a tone that sounded both confused and amused.

Feeling how tense Arthel was, Freddie gently rubbed a thumb across his knuckles in an attempt to reassure him.

"Figure out what?" Roger asked, while Brian breathed out an "oh" and John looked at Arthel with a small frown.

So, Arthel explained as best he could, and answered any of his friends' questions as they kept flipping through the photo album.

* * *

Later, everyone, bar Arthel's mum, was lounging around, chatting as they drank from their bottles of beer - they'd each been restricted to one until the party.

"Right," Arthel said, sitting up from his position leaning against Freddie. "I'm pretty sure there's still a Scrabble board around."

Roger and John groaned.

"Brian always wins." John complained.

"Because he cheats!" Roger accused Brian, glaring at the man next to him.

"Not quite true," Arthel corrected. "Who's won three of seven Scrabble games we've played all five of us this year?"

He walked out of the room pointing at himself. Freddie laughed.

"He's not wrong, lovelies." he admitted.

"Aha! Knew it!" Arthel's voice shouted, before he returned with the Scrabble box and put it on the table. "Look, if you're so convinced that Brian cheats, let's have a champions league. Me against him."

After a moment of silent deliberation between themselves, John, Roger and Freddie nodded.

"You realize you're only encouraging them?" Brian asked, glancing at Arthel with a smile.

"Oh, absolutely!" Arthel cheerfully agreed. "Give me your best."


	2. The Night

11:15pm

Freddie was drunk.

He always got at least somewhat drunk at parties, but he was hoping to make this one an exception. To try and make a good impression on Arthel's parents, which he really wanted to do.

As he was making his way around the house trying to find his partner, he bumped into someone, almost spilling his drink over them.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, my dear, truly sorry!" Freddie exclaimed, before noticing on second glance that he had spilt some of his drink. "I really am sorry! Here, let me…"

His sentence trailed off as he realised that he didn't have anything on hand to help the situation. His attention was brought back to the woman when she laughed, making him finally take proper notice of her and realise that it was Arthel's mum.

"I really am sorry again." Freddie weakly apologised again.

"Don't worry about it, Freddie." Arthel's mum (Freddie vaguely recalled the name Faye being mentioned) assured him kindly, smiling.

Freddie wasn't entirely sure what to do at that point.

"So, how long have you and Arthel been together?" Faye asked him.

Arthel! That's what he'd been doing…

"Not awfully long," Freddie replied, cringing a little at his wording. "Since May. But we've been friends since last year."

"Ah. Those always tend to be the best relationships." Faye commented.

"I wouldn't really know, I haven't been in many serious relationships," Freddie admitted. "But one of my best friends is my ex-girlfriend."

"Oh?"

"Mmm. That relationship went down the drain when I told her I was bisexual. Or maybe I'm gay… who knows?" Freddie sighed. "What I do know, though, is that I'm _terribly_ in love with your son."

When he glanced at Faye, she was wearing a soft smile.

"I'm glad Arthel's found someone who can say that," she told him. "He's been so worried about being alone for so long."

A little surprised, Freddie blinked.

"Really?"

"Mmhm. So, how did you meet?" Faye asked, before smiling cheekily. "Or do I not want to know?"

Freddie spluttered a little.

"We… well, we met at a bar. We spent the evening drinking together and talking. And dancing. And then he invited me to a gig he was doing," he replied, having gotten over Arthel's mother's implication. "And we kept in touch after that, and Brian accidentally found the café Arthel worked at, so they saw each other a lot and got to know each other. I think Brian might actually be teaching him to play electric guitar. Don't tell Ell, though, I think he's trying to keep it secret, or surprise me, or something."

Faye smiled broadly at Freddie. Suddenly, she turned to tap a man on the shoulder as he walked past.

"Dale, this is Freddie, Arthel's boyfriend." she told the man (Dale).

When he joined Faye, Dale took a long look at Freddie before offering him a hand.

"Oh. I'm Arthel's father. Dale Jenkins." he said to Freddie, introducing himself.

"Freddie Mercury. Pleasure to meet you." Freddie replied.

He saw a flicker of recognition in Dale's eyes.

"Like the singer?" Dale asked.

"That's me." Freddie told him, nodding a little hesitantly.

"Huh. Interesting."

Freddie was somewhat relieved when conversation steered away from that topic. After talking to Arthel's parents for a short while, he remembered what he'd been doing before bumping into them.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Ell is, would you?" Freddie asked, suddenly. When his only response was shaking heads, he sighed. "Okay. I'm going to see if I can find him."

* * *

11:50pm

When he found the bush of hair he'd been looking for, Arthel smiled. He sat beside Brian on the bench.

"Thought I'd find you out here." Arthel said.

"I like seeing the new year in under the stars." Brian explained.

"Makes sense," Arthel replied. "You're lucky you can see them around here. It's a good night."

They sat in comfortable silence for a minute or so.

"I'm sorry," Brian suddenly said, making Arthel look at him. "I should've realised. All those times I've accidentally called you miss, not realising it was you, you seemed so tense and you said it happened a lot…"

Arthel laughed, and Brian looked startled.

"No, Brian, you shouldn't have realised," Arthel told him. "In fact, the best thing that's happened to me was you and the guys not realising."

For a while, Brian gazed at Arthel's face in thought, before nodding.

"Makes sense." he agreed, grinning.

Seeing what he'd done, parroting his own words back at him, Arthel gently punched his arm.

"Ell! Bri! There you are!" Freddie's voice called from somewhere near the kitchen. "I've found them, my dears, they're in the garden!"

Suddenly, Freddie was on the grass at Arthel's feet and resting his head in his partner's lap, allowing Arthel to comb his fingers through long, thick hair.

"How long until midnight?" Freddie asked, as John and Roger joined them.

"Three minutes." Brian replied, reading from Arthel's digital watch.

Arthel let Freddie hold his hand on his shoulder. Roger was sat on Brian's other side, and John had taken a seat on the grass next to Freddie. Smiling, Arthel swept his gaze over his friends.

He'd gotten very lucky when the world decided he should meet Queen.

When everyone in the house started the countdown, Arthel whispered along.

"Welcome to 1978, guys." he said when the countdown reached one and everyone inside erupted in cheers.

Freddie pressed his lips to Arthel's hand, smiling, making Arthel smile even wider.


	3. The Morning

1st January 1978, 6:00am

Arthel and Freddie laid side-by-side on the bed in Arthel's old bedroom. Music played quietly from the record player - Arthel didn't remember what he'd put on, it might have been The Rolling Stones. Freddie turned onto his side to pepper kisses to Arthel's neck and the side of his face.

"Get off!" Arthel laughed, before slightly more sternly insisting, "Fred, get off!"

When he pushed Freddie's face away slightly with a hand on his cheek, Arthel saw Freddie grinning at him widely and openly. Smiling, Arthel cupped Freddie's other cheek and kissed him. Freddie pressed closer to him and rested a hand against his back as he deeply returned the kiss.

"What is it?" Arthel asked, after gently breaking the kiss.

"Hmm?" Freddie murmured.

"You want to tell me something, I can feel it," Arthel softly told him. "What is it?"

Freddie rested his head on his hand as he gazed at Arthel with warm brown eyes.

"We're touring Europe this month and next. Queen." he eventually told Arthel.

"Yes, I know," Arthel replied, before laughing at Freddie's surprised expression. "I work at a record store, Freddie, and you know I keep up with what's going on in the world of music. What made you think I wouldn't find out?"

"I… suppose I just didn't want to have this conversation again. So I kept putting it off. But I knew that you probably knew."

Quietly, Arthel chuckled as he took hold of Freddie's hand.

"You're an idiot, sometimes," he affectionately told his boyfriend, before pressing his knuckles to his lips. "I'll miss you."

Freddie gazed into Arthel's eyes.

"Then come with us." he suggested in a way that made it seem like he'd been thinking about it for a while.

"Freddie…" Arthel sighed.

"It would be incredible, Arthel! I could show you Europe, all of the beautiful places. You could even come to the concerts."  
"I'd love to, Fred, but…"

"And we could cover expenses. You wouldn't have to pay a penny."

"Freddie, I can't."

With a smile that said he knew that was going to be Arthel's answer, Freddie nodded.

"I know."

"I'm sorry. I really would love to, and you make it sound so amazing. But it's not that simple. I finally have a steady job, one that I actually like. And I'm sure Lottie would love for me to go with you, but I can't risk it."

Freddie held Arthel's hand, and Arthel could feel the circles being rubbed into the back of it.

"I know. I understand, my love," Freddie reassured Arthel, before resting their foreheads together and saying, "At least come to see us at Empire Pool."

Arthel grinned.

"I think I should be able to do that." he replied, a little teasingly.

Beaming, Freddie pressed a short kiss to his mouth.

"Marvellous! I'll try to get a pass to you as soon as we're back," he promised, before falling onto the bed and wrapping an arm around Arthel. "Come on, get some more sleep, darling."

After a moment, Arthel relaxed in Freddie's arms and buried his face in the crook of his boyfriend's neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is supposed to be the European News Of The World Tour. I know I got the date drastically wrong, but... hey ho.  
> I hope you enjoyed this instalment. Sorry it's so late!  
> I probably won't be posting the next part until the week after next because I'm going to London Pride this weekend with my best friend! I'm so excited!   
> Anyway, everyone have a great first few weeks of July!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really explore the boys' reactions to Arthel being trans, apart from Brian at the beginning of the next chapter. I just couldn't think of them at the time I originally wrote this and couldn't be bothered to add them! If that might be something you'd like to see in the future, let me know!


End file.
